Amanda Alker, Ph.D.
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Blog and News Updates

The postdoc hunt has officially begun!

7/16/2021

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Trying to finish up a PhD during a global pandemic over the past year has been... erm... interesting. What impactful moment in time for every human on this planet. This has me reflecting on timelines in a whole new way. So, my PhD will be a bit longer (Spring 2022 defense).

I've come to appreciate this "bonus time", as it has yielded some awesome opportunities. I started a new project that allowed me to immerse myself in a new [to me] method of bacterial cloning that has expanded my knowledge and interests in new genetic tools. I utilized technologies like modular Golden Gate Assembly and CRISPRi in plasmid constructs and have future plans to adapt a modular broad host range bacterial toolkit for in cis modification of wild isolates of bacteria. The skills I have learned over this time are invaluable and I am not certain I would have taken the project on if the pandemic never happened.

With that being said, I am looking for postdocs to start Summer or Fall 2022. I am in search of a project within the broader research areas of: microbiology, host-microbe interactions, symbiosis, molecular ecology, mechanistic ecology and cell biology. I would love to continue focusing on coral reef ecosystems and their model organisms if possible, but would entertain job calls for all marine ecosystems. I am interested in working with a PI that places emphasis on hypothesis-driven inquiry utilizing new and emerging techniques in genetics and genomics. A woman mentor is preferred (because I could learn a thing or two about how you make an academic career work), but not absolutely necessary. 
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Amanda Launches the Site!

8/2/2019

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Where it all began

Hi, I'm Amanda (some of my close friends call me Mandi)!
Thank you for visiting my site. My passion for marine biology all started with a scholarship to environmental science summer camp in the 4th grade. My hometown, Jensen Beach, Florida (see map below), does a great job educating the youth about the local environment (and the issues surrounding it). The rest is history.

In college, I started working at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, where I started as a volunteer, did an internship and became a laboratory technician and scientific diver. I participated in several field operations with the Voss Lab. After an internship in Bermuda (NSF REU), I was sure that I wanted to pursue a PhD. I am now in my 5th year and am starting to think about a day when I won't be in school anymore. Time really does fly... If you are an undergraduate reading this and have questions, or need guidance, advice, or anything, please reach out.

In my free time I enjoy traveling and all of the activities: Running, surfing, camping, SCUBA, and live music.


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    For whatever we lose, (like a you or a me), it's always ourselves we find in the sea. 
    - e.e. cummings

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